It can be an antagonizing waiting game from the time you get the exciting news that you are pregnant until the doctor can tell the gender of your baby. Believe me, I didn’t find out I was having a boy until I was 7 months pregnant. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could find out a lot sooner?
The good news is you can! There are several ways to find out the gender of your baby sooner than the 2d ultrasounds you get around 20 weeks or at your regular checkups, and without breaking the bank.
Benefits of finding out early
Some people choose to find out the sex of their baby while others with to wait and be surprised. In case you are still unsure, here are some benefits of finding out early.
It Gives you that extra push you need to get you through your pregnancy
Pregnancy takes a toll on most of us. Although it affects different people in different ways, we all have our down days!
Make sure to read our articles on how to prepare mentally and physically for your birth.
During those hard times when the hours seem to drag by and all you have is you and your thoughts, knowing the gender of your baby will give you the motivation you need to keep going.
It gives you something to think about and keeps your mind on all of the positive and exciting things to come.
Saves LOTS of time!
Knowing the gender early on can save you so much time at the end of pregnancy. When you find out early, you have plenty of time to prepare and buy gender specific items as opposed to waiting until the doctor can tell.
If you wait on the 2d ultrasounds, you may not know the gender until 20 weeks and beyond, sometimes it is impossible to tell depending on your baby’s positioning.
You can name your baby!!
True, you can always choose both a boy and girl name or a gender neutral name to be prepared for either sex. Most people do anyway.
Truly knowing the name of your child can strengthen the bond you have with each other as well as allow you to personalize their things. You can put their initials or name on blankets, stuffed animals and more.
Naming your baby also allows you to be able to talk to your baby throughout labor. This helps baby and mom focus.
Have an early gender reveal party
Knowing the gender early gives you time to plan an awesome and creative gender reveal party and gives you the freedom to choose when you want to have the party because you aren’t pressed for time.
5 ways to find out gender early
There are a few ways in which you can learn the gender of your baby and most of them have absolutely no negative effects on you or your bump!
Here are a few options to choose from:
#1) 3d, 4d, and now 5d ultrasounds
This is how I personally found out I was having a little girl with my 3rd child. It is very effective and gives you awesome pictures of your little one.
With 3d ultrasounds, you can see your baby’s features like the shape of their nose, their lips, eyes. You basically get a general idea of how your baby will look or which parent they look like the most.
4d and 5d ultrasounds are more defined so you can see more features of your baby.
You can find out the gender of your baby as early as 9 weeks for between $100 and $200! You can’t beat that!
#2) Fetal DNA kit
A fetal DNA kit is a test kit that uses a small blood sample from you to find out the gender of your baby. There are many benefits of a fetal DNA test.
Benefits:
- It is 99% accurate
- You can find out as early as 9 weeks. That beats waiting for the doctor any day!
- Most also test for 3 common fetal aneuploidies, Trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome), Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome), as well as Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).
- Allows you to avoid invasive sampling (which could potentially cause health issues for momma and baby).
- Zero risks for baby! After all, it’s usually just a finger prick!
Where to get it?
The good news is your doctor can now prescribe non-invasive fetal DNA tests, but there are alternatives to going through your doctor!
You could always order a DNA kit online (if you are only trying to find out the sex of your baby), from a few different places.
One of the most popular ones out there is Sneak peek early gender DNA test, likely because of all the perks!
- It is readily available to everyone
- It is cheap
- It uses a small finger prick
- You can do it in the comfort of your own home
- Fast results (as little as 72 hours)
- 99.6% accurate
- Don’t need a referral from a doctor.
How it works
Sneak Peek uses noninvasive prenatal testing or NIPT which analyzes small fragments of DNA that are circulating in the mother’s blood (called cell-free DNA) to determine the sex of the baby.
It works by testing for the presence or absence of the y-chromosomes in the blood. Y chromosomes are only present when you are pregnant with a boy. The absence of y chromosomes indicates that it’s a girl.
All you do is collect a small blood sample using a simple finger prick, then follow the directions on repackaging the sample and sending it back to the lab.
The great thing about this test is how quickly you receive results! You find out in as little as 72 hours via e-mail! Then it’s time to begin planning!!
#3) Fetal chromosome testing
Fetal chromosome testing detects abnormalities in chromosomes. There is invasive and noninvasive testing.
Invasive carries risks where non-invasive has little or no risks.
You wouldn’t get a fetal chromosome test solely to find out the gender of your child because of the risks it carries, plus there are easier and cheaper ways!
There are 2 common types of diagnostic tests, chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis.
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
This test is usually done between 10 and 13 weeks and involves either having a small tube (catheter) inserted through the cervix or a thin needle inserting into the abdomen to the placenta to acquire a small sample of tissue.
This tissue sample contains the same genetic material as the fetus which means it can detect chromosomal abnormalities and other genetic disorders your child may have, as well as the gender of the child.
Amniocentesis
This test is done from 15 weeks onward. This method also uses a long, thin needle inserted in the mother’s abdomen into the amniotic sac to collect a sample of fluid.
This fluid is then analyzed for any chromosomal abnormalities.
Who needs it?
As mentioned above, you wouldn’t get this type of testing for gender prediction alone. That is just a benefit of getting these tests done. This test is for people who:
- have a family history of genetic disorders or have had a child with a genetic disorder.
- have parents who are carriers of specific genetic disorders.
- have had an abnormal ultrasound that calls for this testing.
- has had NIPT (non-invasive prenatal testing) done that gave you positive results. This would be a follow-up to confirm the findings.
- are 35 and up. People age 35 and up have an increased risk of having a child with chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome. (Source).
How much does it cost?
Depending on your insurance coverage, you could be out of pocket $1000- $5,000 for CVS and up to $7,000 for Amniocentesis, however, most of the time these genetic tests are covered by insurance. (Source)
Risks
Both types of diagnostic testing (CVS and Amniocentesis) have an increased risk of miscarriage. To be exact, CVS has a 1% chance of causing miscarriage and amniocentesis has slightly less of a risk. (Source)
#4) Wives Tales
One of my FAVORITE ways to tell gender of your baby! There are SO many wives tales that claim to predict gender that I won’t even try to name them all. I’ll just tell you a few popular ones you can try!
The great thing about these, they don’t cost a thing!
The ring test!
It’s simple, all you have to do is get a piece of your hair, if you wear a ring, use it. If not, you can use any ring.
Put the hair through the ring hole and tie the hair around the ring so they are interlocked.
From there, hold out your wrist to where your palm is face up. The necklace will start to move, watch it closely. If it goes in a circle, supposedly you are going to have a baby girl. If it moves back and forth, it is a boy.
Furthermore, the necklace will tell you how many children you will have as well as the gender of each. If you already have children, it will begin with your first child, go for 15 seconds, then it will go to your next child, and even your future children. When it is to the end, it will stop completely.
It was and is eerily accurate for me!
Cravings!!
An old wives tale claims that you can tell the gender of your child judging by the food you crave during pregnancy.
If you have had a serious sweet tooth every since you got pregnant, it’s said you are going to have a girl! On the other hand, if you have been craving salty foods, you are supposedly having a baby boy!
[Melissa here] This proved true to all of my kiddos. The girls I had to have ice cream of sweets every single day. With my boys it wasn’t salty foods but I craved anything and everything spicy.
Moody vs. Mellow!!
This is an interesting one. One wives tale says that you can find out the gender of your baby judging by your typical mood.
If you are generally moody and always on edge, it is supposed to be a girl.
If you are mellow the majority of the time, boy it is!
#5) Gender predictor from the pharmacy
Wait what?
Yes! You heard me right! There is actually a gender predictor test that uses a urine sample, and can supposedly tell you the gender of your baby!!
This test claims to be able to predict gender as early as 6 weeks by detecting testosterone in the urine.
If you are like me, you are a little skeptical, so I did some research. Turns out, there is no sexual hormone in the urine at this stage of pregnancy according to Daniel A. Potter, MD. (Source)
Basically what that means is, there is a 50/50 chance of it being correct and that is just by chance so don’t bellieve the hype!
Don’t Wait!!
As you can see, there are so many options for finding out the gender of your little bundle of joy. You are 1 step away from peace of mind.
If you are sure you want to know whether you are having a boy or girl, why wait? If you are anything like me, the anticipation will kill you!!!
